SELLING TIPS: Overcoming Fears

OVERCOMING YOUR FEAR OF SELLING excerpt from "Avon Beauty Advisor"

"Sales professionals face fear every day, and it can be crippling. Those of us who have chosen sales as our career have unique personalities. We're goal-oriented. We need to be liked and trusted by others. We tend to be competitive in nature and we don't enjoy losing. With this type of personality, rejection can severely limit our ability to be successful.

How do we manage this fear? With planning, preparation, practice and persistence. Mastering these four elements allows sales professionals to manage fear so that it does not become a major roadblock to success.

PLANNING. When we hear the word "no", we often assume it's because we're not skilled at closing the sale. In fact, our inability to close the sale is often the result of a poorly planned sales presentation. Failure to greet the Customer, build trust or establish a relationship affects our ability to close. Failure to ask the right questions or respond properly to objections before presenting a solution also affects our ability to close. Every single step in the sales process must be planned BEFORE we meet with the Customer.

PREPARATION. Preparation is essential so that we will know exactly how to respond when the Customer says "no". All objections should be anticipated so that when you attempt to close the Customer again, your chance of succeeding will be high.

PRACTICE. Your education, determination, time and effort devoted to practicing your sales presentation will determine how much you improve. And remember, practicing is only construction if we do it correctly.

PERSISTENCE. Don't give up! Every time we give up, our fear increases that we will fail the next time out. Success is not counted by the number of times we fail, but by the number of times we succeed. However, persistence must be tempered with skill. Simply being persistent without having planned well, prepared properly and practiced correctly will not offer many positive results.

Do not allow fear to haunt you. When you plan, prepare, practice and maintain persistence, you keep fear where it belongs- in the recesses of your mind."